$500m for new US cold store business
14th August 2023
USA: Atlanta-based cold storage operator and developer Envision Cold has launched its cold chain platform with a $500m investment from an undisclosed capital partner.
The investment will allow Envision Cold to acquire and develop over $1.5bn of cold storage assets. Since the company’s foundation last year, Envision Cold has closed on acquiring cold storage operations and assets in Oakland, California, San Francisco, California, Laredo, Texas and Vancouver, BC.
The company says it plans to continue acquiring and developing a network of facilities across North America, focusing on markets that are underserved by cold storage from both a physical infrastructure and customer service perspective.
Envision Cold provides its users with various services, including traditional cold storage, import/export services, transportation and blast freezing.
The company is led by an executive team with a deep history in the cold storage industry, having previously worked together at Americold, the world’s second-largest cold storage owner/operator.
CEO Austin Solem previously launched and ran Americold’s M&A department and played a pivotal role in taking the company public in 2018. While at Americold, he was instrumental in structuring acquisitions totalling $4.6bn and comprising 99 facilities in 12 countries. COO Stephen Draper has 30 years of cold storage experience and was previously responsible for Americold’s operations in the Southeast region, which consisted of around 50 facilities across 14 states and 3,000 employees. CFO Eric Diaz formerly oversaw all regional and operations finance activities for North America Warehouse, Transportation, and 3PL Managed business segments.
